The Linda Chester Literary Agency represents a wide variety of adult literary and commercial fiction, as well as an array of non-fiction projects in areas that include science, health, business, finance, current events, history, popular culture, humor, psychology, spirituality, fine and performing arts, memoir, and biography. We place dramatic rights for our projects and work in tandem with the major film agencies.

Note from Linda

It is my pleasure to share with you a stellar list highlighting books we've given birth to over the years - an exceptional selection of quality fiction and non-fiction titles that have kept us extremely busy and have made us very proud. The last two decades have been quite rewarding; we've had the good fortune of representing the number-one hardcover and trade paperback books in America, as well as many other national bestsellers. We've also had the joy of seeing our clients' work sold to Hollywood and to foreign publishers, to national magazines and to audio companies.

We take great pride in serving our clients. Indeed, we are devoted to our authors who are gifted in the areas of fiction, biography, and memoir, as well as experts in their given fields. For those clients who are specialists, having a book under the wing can bring critical attention and financial support to their visionary ideas and significantly assist them in reaching their goals. For that is the ultimate goal of our agency: liberating writers to pursue, and to fulfill their dreams. When a client calls to say that, due to the success of his book, he is - at long last-building his dream home or starting a foundation to assist other writers, I am filled with no small joy. Nothing brings me more pleasure than to know that the agency is making our authors' dreams come true and their careers even more successful.

I have always had the utmost respect and admiration for writers and their ability to move us, persuade us, to rejoice in the human condition, and also to caution us when the culture strays from its highest values. Writers do a tremendous service by bringing us the latest news bulletin from the farthest regions of our hearts and minds. In so doing, they enrich and enlighten us in infinite ways.

When we work with an author, my associates and I serve as publishing liaisons, literary confidantes, trusted consultants, and we hope, as friends. First and foremost, we are the author's most passionate advocates, and with this in mind, I like to believe we also work on behalf of great ideas. I can think of no other profession that allows one to delve in such a vast range of interests or the opportunity to seed so many delicious ideas.

I hope you will enjoy reading the enclosed material. Developing informative, inspiring and entertaining books of global import is a fulfilling endeavor for all of us at the agency, and we look forward to many more such opportunities.

James R. Hansen has written about aerospace history and the history of science and technology for the past thirty years. He has published books and articles on a wide variety of topics ranging from the early days of aviation, the first nuclear fusion reactors, and the Moon landings, to the environmental history of golf courses.

His book, First Man (Simon & Schuster, 2005; revised edition 2018), the first and only authorized biography of Neil Armstrong, spent three weeks on the New York Times Bestseller list and garnered major book awards including the American Astronautical Society's Eugene Emme Prize for Astronautical Literature and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' Outstanding Book Award. First Man has been published in England and Japan, and is scheduled to appear in Chinese, Russian, Croatian, Turkish and other translations. The film of First Man, directed by Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle with a script by Oscar-winning screenwriter Josh Singer, will be released by Universal Studios on October 12, 2018, starring Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy. Hansen is also co-author of Truth, Lies, and O-Rings: The Inside Story of the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster (University Press of Florida). NASA nominated Hansen's book Spaceflight Revolution for a Pulitzer Prize, and his book From the Ground Up won the History Book Award of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Hansen's scholarship has been honored with the Robert H. Goddard Award from the National Space Club and certificates of distinction from the Air Force Historical Foundation. His books The Bird is on the Wing (Texas A&M University Press) and The Wind and Beyond (NASA) explore the role of aerodynamics in the progress of the airplane in America. Hansen has also made his mark on the field of golf course history, publishing the authorized biography of Robert Trent Jones Sr, A Difficult Par. A Professor of History at Auburn University, Dr. Hansen has served on a number of major advisory boards, including the Research Advisory Board of the National Air and Space Museum and the Editorial Advisory Board of the Smithsonian Institution Press.